Leopard evades trap, takes its cub

BIJNOR: A day after three leopard cubs were found in a cane field in Bijnor's Alampur Adva village, the forest department used the cubs as bait to capture the mother leopard so the feline family could be taken away from the residential area. However, the forest department officials were left red-faced after the mother leopard instead of walking into the trap, took out a cub from the cage and made away with it.
Panic spread among locals as the big cat and its cub were later spotted three kilometres from the site of the trap. Meanwhile, officials secured the other two cubs, conducted another medical check on them, fed them milk and released them close to where their mother was spotted. Later, the two cubs were also united with their mother.
Chandpur forest ranger Baal Singh Rawat said, “There was a leopardess that was living in the sugarcane fields. Its cubs are about three to four days old. We had set a cage to catch the leopardess. We had put the cubs inside the cage as bait.The plans was to catch the feline and later release them into safe zone.“
It turned out later that the leopardess was smarter that the forest officials had thought. “On Saturday night, the leopardess came close to the cage, took out a cub from rear side of the cage and ran away . We found only two cubs inside the cage the next morning. Later, we sounded alert in the area. The cubs were hungry, so we took them to Noorpur veterinary hospital and carried out medical examinations.Later, we fed them milk. Meanwhile, someone informed us that the leopardess with its cub was spotted in a sugarcane field in Bishanpur village. We reached Bishanpur and left both the cubs there and hid ourselves behind a tree. After some time, the leopardess got its cubs and roared. We are keeping a watch on them,“ Rawat said.
Local residents, however, are not happy with the turn of events. Monu Kumar, a resident of Bishanpur, told TOI that the villagers were afraid ever since they came to know that the leopardess was in the area.
“The farmers did not go to their field on Sunday evening. All the villagers are saying that the forest department should have caught the leopardess with its cubs and left them in forest areas,“ Kumar said.
The area has seen many felines coming out of shrinking forest areas and taking shelter in sugarcane fields in the past.